From a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:
BSB Championship, Round 4, Oulton Park, Cheshire
May 1-3
PREVIEW
FULLY-FIT RICHARDS EYES RETURN TO THE FRONT
The British Superbike Championship heads to Oulton Park, Cheshire, this bank holiday weekend for the fourth round of the 2004 series, and Hawk Kawasaki star Glen Richards, who is now fully recovered from injuries sustained in a 100mph crash at Brands Hatch three weeks ago, is looking to run at the front again at the picturesque track.
“For sure I’m feeling a lot better than I was last weekend at Snetterton and I’m looking forward to getting out on the bike again,” said the Aussie. “Up to now things haven’t been going my way, so things can only get better. The 10 will be heaps better at Oulton that the 750 because of the extra torque. To be fair it’s still going to be hard work because our engines are still down on power compared to the others, but there’s no reason why we can’t get a sniff of the podium. That’s where we’re looking to be.”
Fellow Hawk BSB star Scott Smart is currently enjoying his strongest form in the championship to date. Smarty showed he means business by leading the second race at Snetterton, while his consistently strong finishes see the number 88 rider in a challenging sixth place in the series going into the fourth round.
“Obviously I’m feeling good about my riding and about how things are progressing with the bike at the moment,” said Smarty. “It felt great to lead the race at Snett, but I’m not sure how the 10 will fair at Oulton. We thought the 750 would be good but its lack of torque held it back, so I won’t make any predictions until I’ve ridden on Saturday. At least we’ve got 35 per cent more torque than last year, so that will be a great help.”
Hawk’s National Superstock rider, Peter Hickman, is hoping for a change in luck this weekend after he crashed out at Snetterton while holding third. The 17 year-old, who is new to the class, is still recovering from the tumble, but is fully focussed on the task in hand.
“I’m not fully fit yet after the Snetterton crash,” he said. “My left kidney is still quite bruised so I’ve been trying to rest as much as possible this week. We weren’t expecting to crash at Snetterton, not that anyone expects to crash, but we now think it was a combination of things that had me off. There were a couple of things in the set-up that could have been better, so we’ve ironed them out in preparation for this weekend. I like Oulton Park a lot so I am looking forward to this weekend and I’m determined to get a good result.”
Practice starts on Saturday May 1.
BSB CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 3 ROUNDS
1) John Reynolds, Suzuki, 127. 2) Michael Rutter, Honda, 117. 3) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 78. 3=) Sean Emmett, Ducati, 78. 5) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 76. 6) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki, 68. 7) Dean Thomas, Ducati, 48. 8) Tommy Hill, Yamaha, 40. 9) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki, 33. 10) Gary Mason, Yamaha, 32. 11) Steve Plater, Yamaha, 27. 12) Craig Coxhell, Honda, 19. 13) Kieran Clarke, Yamaha, 18. 14) Stuart Easton, Ducati, 14. 15) James Haydon, Ducati, 9
More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki Team:
British Supersport / National Superstock Championships Round four Oulton Park, May 3 2004
Thursday April 29 2004
MSS DISCOVERY TEAM SEARCHING FOR VICTORIES AT OULTON PARK
MSS Discovery¹s Kawasaki-mounted trio head into round four of the British Supersport and National Superstock Championship races looking for wins at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on Monday.
The team¹s Pere Riba has taken two fourth place finishes before adding a first podium finish with third place last Sunday at Snetterton. Riba sits fourth in the Supersport championship, just nine points adrift of the lead.
“We’ve put together a professional start to the season, now it’s time to look at winning,” reckons MSS Discovery ace Riba who narrowly missed out on victory at Snetterton.
Riba adds: “I’m told Oulton Park will suit my style so I’m really keen to get there and see how the ZX-6RR performs. We’ve done very little work to the motor so I was pleased with the top speed at Snetterton last week hopefully that’s a good sign for the rest of the year.”
MSS Discovery’s Rob Frost heads for Oulton Park looking to repeat his fourth place finish of 2003 at the demanding, 2.7-mile circuit.
“Oulton Park is a great, flowing circuit and one I’ve enjoyed success on in the past,” recalls Frost. “I’ll be looking to put in a strong qualifying performance and hopefully run with the front group in Monday’s race.”
The MSS Discovery team’s National Superstock championship challenge got back on track after the squad’s Steve Allan scooped a solid eighth place finish at Snetterton.
The ZX-10R Kawasaki rider who took pole position for the opening Silverstone round – explains: “The crash in round two at Brands Hatch was very disappointing so I was concentrating solely on finishing the Snetterton race. Oulton Park is one of my favourite circuits and I’m certain the ZX-10R will be good around there.”
MSS Discovery team owners Stuart Simmonds and Nick Morgan are confident their Kawasaki stars can compete for victories in Monday’s races.
Morgan comments: “I think the whole team got a lift at Snetterton, especially with Pere’s performance in the Supersport race. Pere was in the lead, battling for victory, the machine handled well and we had the top end power there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be challenging for wins at every round from now on.”
British Supersport Championship points after three of 13 rounds: 1 Michael Laverty, Ducati 51, 2 Karl Harris, Honda 45, 3 Jay Vincent, Honda 43, 4 Pere Riba, MSS Discovery Kawasaki 42, 5 Luke Quigley, Suzuki 38, 6 Craig Jones, Triumph and Simon Andrews, Yamaha 27, 8 Kieran Murphy, Honda 19, 9 Adrian Coates, Suzuki and Tom Sykes, Suzuki 15.
National Superstock Championship points afterthree of 13 rounds: 1 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki and Ben Wilson, Suzuki 58, 3 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha 54, 4 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki 45, 5 Les Shand, Yamaha 31, 6 Steve Allan, MSS Discovery Kawasaki 24, 7 Darren Mitchell, Suzuki 20, 8 Mark Heckles, Yamaha 16, 9 Kelvin Reilly, Ducati 15, 10 Craig Fitzpatrick, Suzuki 14.
